Hero

In the story comic book legend Stan Lee calls "spellbinding" and "totally original," Thom Creed has secrets. For one, like his father, he has super powers. Also, he's been asked to join the Leaguethe very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. Then theres the secret Thom can barely face himself: he's gay. But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, Typhoid Larry, and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide....

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Audible Editor Reviews

No one on earth has anything negative to say about this book, so the challenging part of reviewing Perry Moore's first novel is how to reign in the geyser of good vibes. Hero is the first in a series of young adult fantasy novels that centers on the life of a gay teen superhero, Thom Creed. Moore is ridiculously qualified to write such a book. Openly gay and with a long career in the film industry where he is perhaps best known as the executive producer of The Chronicles of Narnia series, it is unsurprising that this novel was an uncontested favorite to win the Lambda Literary Award in the Young Adult category.

It's not only the young adult crowd and the GLBT crowd that are hopping on board this love train, but also the superhero-loving crowd of comic book geeks. Leading the bandwagon of support for this exciting new series is none other than Marvel Comics guru Stan Lee, who is developing a television show based on Moore's novels. The audiobook actually opens with a jolly introduction from Stan Lee, whose enthusiastic recommendation alone should be enough reason to listen to this book.

But there is still more goodness, in that the novel itself is narrated by Michael Urie, the openly gay stage and screen actor best known for his recurring role as Marc St. James on the hit television series Ugly Betty. Urie is gifted with a knack for character voices, and delivers a dozen uniquely hilarious and heartwarming voices for the various superheros and wannabes in this novel. There's the League, featuring an alien calm for Justice, a publicity-ready sparkle for dreamy blond Uberman, and a slinky rasp for speedy Golden Boy, the sidekick of Silver Bullet who has been demoted to trainer of the League's next crop of heroes. Thom Creed, in the universally appealing tones of an outsider's tenderly introspective coming-of-age, is among this crop. He is joined by the voices of perpetually grouchy Scarlett, drippy nosed Typhoid Larry, and sarcastic chain-smoking psychic Ruth, all hiding secrets of their own.

Perry Moore has written a book that does exactly the right thing at the right time, bringing together a remarkably broad audience in a way that can only be described as a game changer for the several genres it bridges. Whatever reason you might have for wanting to give it a listen, Michael Urie's action-packed rendering of familiar feelings and unpredictable situations ensures that you will not even consider pressing that pause button  the future of the world is on the line, in more ways than one. Megan Volpert

Publisher's Summary

In the story comic book legend Stan Lee calls "spellbinding" and "totally original," Thom Creed has secrets. For one, like his father, he has super powers. Also, he's been asked to join the Leaguethe very organization of superheroes that spurned his dad. Then theres the secret Thom can barely face himself: he's gay.

But becoming a member of the League opens up a new world to Thom. There, he connects with a misfit group of aspiring heroes, including Scarlett, who can control fire but not her anger; Typhoid Larry, who can make anyone sick with his touch; and Ruth, a wise old broad who can see the future. Like Thom, these heroes have things to hide; but they will have to learn to trust one another when they uncover a deadly conspiracy within the League.

To survive, Thom will face challenges he never imagined. To find happiness, he'll have to come to terms with his fathers past, and discover the kind of hero he really wants to be.

Timely and inspiring,Hero tackles love, friendship, and the struggle to come to terms with who we really are in a sincere and suspenseful way.

This audiobook includes an exclusive introduction written and read by Stan Lee himself.

What the Critics Say

"Moore's casting of a gay teen hero in a high-concept fantasy marks an significant expansion of GLBTQ literature into genres that reflect teens' diverse reading interests; given the mainstream popularity of comics-inspired tales, the average, ordinary, gay teen superhero who comes out and saves the world will raise cheers from within the GLBTQ community and beyond." (Booklist)

This book hits at so many levels I can't do it justice in a brief review. While I'm inclined to to warn about the gay content, and encourage the listener to be tolerant, that would violate the spirit of the book.

I've read professional criticisms of this book and laugh inside at how the critics so easily can miss key points. The book intentionally reads like a comic and so the characters are supposed to be somewhat 2-dimensional. Comics are written for kids---it's brilliant that some of the 'action' is predictable. It's not an autobiography!!!

But the ideas are profound. That we torment super heroes with bigotry is very wonderfully presented. That we don't know what the real lives of those around us is really about is brilliantly portrayed.

To the rigid moralist there may be some objectionable passages but I find my own tolerance going deeper as I get older. I think that's called maturity.

I LOVED this book. I thought I would try a book that was a bit outside of my norm (I usually go for the Stephanie Plum type books). But I wanted to see what a book with an openly gay main character would be like. And other than it being a driving plot vehicle, it was not a turn off. Since I have a person very close to me who is gay, I wanted to see if their world was really different than mine (nope, its not -- except for the super hero part!) :)
Listen to it. Its great. I would recommmend it to teenagers -- especially those who are struggling with their sexuality or know people who are struggling.
I cried at the end. I will definately look for more books by Perry Moore.

I must say first that I can relate to this book very much, except for the super powers of course. I loved the whole story so much that it makes me sad that I've already finished it. There are really cool characters and really weird ones too. The story kept it slightly dark but dynamic and enjoyable too. It really kept the book interesting and me glued to the point that I didn't want to do anything but listen to the book. Hopefully the writer will make a sequel to this book. This is most definitely a good read or listen.

I could not stop I had to finish this all the way thru I sat in my vechical for a over a half hour just to finish the book. I made me laugh and cry. I hope there is another addition to this book I would love to get it.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to read the book but after hearing the audio excerpt I decided to give it a try in the audio version and was surprised! It was pretty good, definately made me laugh out loud in some places! I loved "KickAss" and this was a good combination of it and other super hero characters.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story! I like science fiction, fantasy and mystery novels, especially the cosy mysteries and loved comic books as a kid. I found Thom's romantic relationships very easy to relate to and enjoyed seeing which heros were inspired by which comic character from my childhood. The only reason I took a star off is b/c I didn't really understand the transformation of Thom's powers. Perhaps I wasn't listening carefully enough but how the transmutation of the energy from healing into other abilities occurred was confusing. It's probably just being overly analytical on my side but it did bother me. I was quite sad to find that Perry Moore has recently passed away and that one of his projects had been a sequel to this novel. The first thing I did after finishing it was to look for the next book as I really wanted to find out what was next for these characters. RIP, Mr. Moore and I'm glad you gave us this book before your untimely passing.

I often found myself asking if this title was written just for me. Being a gay superhero has been difficult and it was nice to hear of someone else who has been through the same experiences as I have. I have repeatedly recommended this book to others so they can better understand what I went through as a young super-hero and in many ways am still going through as an adult. If you are looking for a fun read, this is it. If you are looking for a coming-of-age story like you have never heard, this is it. I highly recommend this title and anxiously await the next book in the series!!

This is an absolutely fabulous book. This author is fearless. It is truly amazing the number of issues he decided to pack into this book. Not just gay teen issues (angst and very light romance), racial injustice, bigotry, heroes not acting heroic, alien invasions and a murder mystery for good measure. If you were a child of comic heroes as I was (I am a Marvel girl, but never missed an episode of Justice League), you will enjoy this universe, however dark it might be. This is not a light comic romp, there are some truly dark stuff. The “big battle” is truly epic and has a twist ending. I think the author does a great job of creating the universe and delivering a exciting and compelling story; even though some of it drags a little. The narrator in the audio version is also fabulous. He has a great diversity of voices, his pacing is spot on and he injects a lot of emotion into the characters. I’ve seen some reviewer compare it to The Watchman meets the Justice League. I agree with that but would add, The Watchman meets the Justice League meets Something Like Summer. For fans of the young gay romance genre, you know what I mean.

I thought I would like Hero. However, the longer I listened to this story, the more I disliked it. Towards the end (and I did force myself to go all the way to the conclusion), I found myself hitting the fast-forward button to skip over a few minutes here and there.

You're inside the head of a teenager. You will be listening to a teenager's thoughts and feelings. For a teenage listener, this will probably be entertaining. For an adult listener, you may find this experience "uncomfortable."

I can find pleasure in reading a young adult novel or comic book story. I've enjoyed seeing The Avengers movies. But there were too many times during Hero that I had thoughts like "This conversation (with another character or with himself) is stupid." And there were fight sequences where the way heroes used their powers made no sense.

If you're a young adult, I think you'll probably like the story. If you've moved beyond the teenage years, you may not find the story or writing mature enough for you.

I really just picked this up on a whim. I liked the concept of a gay superhero who is just starting on his journey.

This book exceeded any expectations I could have had for it. It had moment of humor that would make me laugh out loud, as well as brilliantly written scenes that caused me to cry. The characters had flaws that made them real and relatable, and even some of the secondary two dimensional characters you can envision seeing around school or the workplace.

I also want to say that Michael Urie's reading of this was brilliant! I don't think they could have found a better narrator. His reading of each character was well done, and allowed me to sink into the story without getting distracted by confusion of which character was supposed to be talking.

I could go on and on about how much I love this book, but I think I should end this review by stating I love Ruth. She is my favorite character, and if I had nothing else to say about this book it would be that I'm glad I read it, just because I got to meet her.

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